Method and apparatus for drilling wells



Jam. 12, 1954 W. H. ELLIS 3 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRILLING WELLSFiled Sept. 20, 1950 FIGS.

FIG. I.

Patented Jan. 12, 1954 WELL , METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRILLING WilliamH. Ellis, LovelacevilleQKy. Application September 20, 1950, Serial No.185,81 9 4 Claims. (o1.-2s5 1.s)

This invention relates to a method and; appae ratus for drilling a welland has for its primary object to properly seat a strainer in a wellbetween the well bottom and the well pipe.

Another object is to support on the end of a 5 Referring to the drawingsin detail a cOnVenwell pipe a drill bit which may be readily distionallength of well pipe IIl has welded thereto connected from drillingrelation to the well pipe as at I2 a sleeve I4, the upper portion ofwhich when the desired depth of well hole has been is reduced indiameter as at It to fit into thewell reached. pipe I0 as shown. Theinner wall I8 of the sleeve A still further object is to enable the wellto 10 I4 adjacent the upper end thereof istapered-as be bailed by aconventional slush bucket should shown to facilitate the introduction ofa slush the desirability of such bailing of the well be bucket, welltools or the like into the sleeve shouldindicated, occasion require.Formed in the sleeve I4: atthe The above and other objects may beattained end thereof remote from the reduced portion I6. by employingthis invention which embodies are notches to facilitate the fiushingoutof among its features advancing into the ground a well cuttings as thesleeve advances into the; well pipe carrying a drill bit in drillingrelation ground to form the well hole and opening into thereto, when thedesired depth of well hole has the same end of the sleeve arediametrically been reached knocking said drill bit out of drilloppositerecesses 28 and for thereception of ing relation to the well pipe,advancing a strainer 20 the drill bit to-be more fully hereinafterdescribed." through the Well pipe and into contact with the Seated inthe recesses 28 and 30 and extending bottom of the well hole and movingthe well pipe across the end of the sleeve I4 is a drill bit 24 awayfrom the bottom of the well hole a distance which as illustrated inFigures 1 and 2 comprises substantially equal to the length of thestrainer. a substantially flat body 26 having a notched por- Otherfeatures include holding the strainer tion 32 which is hardened in order-,to provide a against the bottom of the well hole during the suitablecutter which will satisfactorily drill into movement of the well pipeaway from the bottom the earth to form the well hole. 1 of said Wellhole. In employing the sleeve I4 and drill bit 24, the

Still other features include a sleeve welded or sleeve I4 is welded toan end of a length of well otherwise permanently fixed to an end of awell 30 pipe I0 and the drill bit 24 is seated in the repipe, a drillbit extending transversely across the cesses 28 and 30 in the sleeve I4and welded sleeve at the end thereof remote from the well theretoadjacent to the recess 30 by a frangible pipe, and a frangible weldjoining the drill bit to weld 22. The parts thus assembled arethen-ad-jthe sleeve, whereby when the desired depth of vanced into the ground inany conventional man: 4 well hole has been reached, the drill bit may be93 ner to form a well hole H (Fig-3). When the knocked out of drillingrelation with the sleeve. desired depth is reached the pipe may be re-Still other features include notches in the end tracted slightly and thebit is struck'through the of the sleeve carrying a drill bit throughwhich pipe [0 t k ck it t of th recess 2 and t the well cuttings may beflushed out o f;the well cause it to hinge out into the earth at theside of hole, and an inwardly and downwardly; tapering 40 the recess 30by bending and breaking the weld annular wall at the upper end of thesleeve t 22. This will cause the drill bit 24 to swing downfacilitatethe introduction of a slush bucket wardly and into the earth at the sideof the sleeve thereinto. or shoe I4 substantially as shown in Figure 3.

In the drawings: In knocking out the bit use is made of a piece ofFigure 1 is an enlarged fragmentarywside View pipe just small enough togothrough the shoe or of a well pipe showing this improved sleeve ndsleeve I4 and about three feet long and perforated drill bit in positionthereon preparatory to drillthroughout its length. Such pipe may have aing a well, certain portions of the figu e being solid, slightly pointedbottom welded into it and illustrated in section more clearly toillustrate its top end ha atta h d th r t by it bl certain details ofconstruction; reducer, a sufficient length of small size pipe to Figure2 is a bottom plan view of the drill bit reach the bottom of the well.By giving this and equipment illustrated in Figure 1, and knock-out pipean up and down movement to Figure 3; is a fragmentary sectional viewapply one or two hard blows to the drill bit, the through a well holeshowing the drill bit moved bit will be dislodged on the unwelded sideand out of drilling relation with the well pipe and the will swingdownwardly and laterally by hinging well pipe moved away from the bottomof a well hole a length substantially equal to the length of a strainer,and the strainer in place the well hole.

Fries} on the welded side so that it will swing to an out of the wayposition in the well hole as illustrated so as not to interfere with theintroduction of the hereinafter described screen Or strainer. In thisaction of breaking out the bit it does not matter whether the Weldmerely bends or whether it breaks entirely free, the principal objectbeing to make the bit hinge out to one side so as to be out of the wayofthescreemor strainer. 'Also in this operation if nowater is foundthepipe H! is drawn out and a new bit is welded in and the drilling canbe proceeded with to a greater depth.

If the bit 24 were merely knockedentirelytree and permitted to drop intothe bottom of the well hole difiiculty would then be encountered inproceeding with the drilling, whereas by'the above described operationthe bit willbecausedtelodgein the side of the well hole or may remainataeeasse While in the foregoing there has been shown and described thepreferred form of this invention, it is to be understood that minorchanges in the details of construction, combination and arrangement ofparts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as claimed.

l. The herein-described method of drilling a well which comprisesadvancing into the ground awell pipe carrying an elongate drill bitdisposed across the advancing end of the pipe, effecting theshitting;ofbne end of the bit downwardly away from the pipe while maintaining theother end against such downward shifting to effect the swinging of thebit downwardly and laterally into 3 theearthwallof the well hole, andthen running tached to the pipe and it will then be out of the way if itis stuck in the side of the hole, in the.

eartln. or: it can. be removed: when. the pipe is withdrawn. the drill.bit. 2E; thus moved out. of. the passage through the sleeve M, asuitable strainer 3k: iaentered; mm the upper end of the well t3andilowered into: contact with the bottom oi the Walk. hole Hz afterwhich the well. pipe I8 is; moved". upwardly away from the bottom of thewell. hole Be a. distance substantially equal. to the lengthen thestrainer 31'; Obviously by so doing liquid in the: well hole may flowthrough the strainer 34. and. into the well pipe. l0 in aconventienalmanner. whilezin. the present instance, the strainer 34'; isillustrated; as a conventional screen, it evident: that any' suitablestrainer may be substituted that. pass: through. the interior of: thewell pipe: to; It is also evident thatshould. it become necessary: tobail. the well, or otherwise; introduce tools; into the well hole at thebpttom thereot,v the beveled shoulder or wall? llgwill in no wayinterfere with the intro- (faction and; removal of a slush bucket or thelikeitoole it is obvious that the strainer 34 heiddhwnwardly; againstthe bottom of we pe iqjby introducingsuitable hold downimplements-throughthe upper open end of the pipe-fiend engaging theupper end- 'of' the 34' therewith.

Byempleying thev equipment above described itisobvious that the strainer34 may be easily and. quickly inserted in properpositibn in a well holeIf and furthermore the distance that the sleeve H is moved away from thedrill bit 24 may be varied. ta meet different depths of liquid in: thewell hole simply'by using strainers ofdiflengths hotel-IT during theupward: movement of a strainer through and beyond the lower end of thewell pipe past the bit.

2. Drilling equipment of the character described, comprising a-drill;pipe,:a sleevesecnred tome-lower end thereoi,..saidi sleeve havingstwodiametrically opposite positioned notches in its bottom edge, anelongate fiat drill bit having: a length greater than the outsidediameter of the sleeve and disposed transversely across said end of thesleeve with its top edge seated said notches, a light weld. couplingbetween said ed'ge of the bit and the outer side of the sleeve at. onenotch only, the bit being removably maintained in the other notch, andsaid sleeve having additional notches in the bottom edge for the. pas.-sage of wash fluid. 3-. In well dlflling equipment, a well pipe, asleeve secured at one end to said well pipe at the lower end of thelatter, a drill bit of a width materially greater than the diameter ofthe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UN'I'IED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Datev 576,953 Davis Feb. 9-, 189? 587,779 Barker Aug..10;1-891

